Sign, tablet, or the like for day and night display



April 29, 1930. G. LINDSEY 1,756,203

SIGN, TABLET, OR THE LIKE FOR DAY AND NI GHT DISPLAY Filed Aug. 31. 1928 Patented A r; 29, 1eao titans enoaen LINDSEY, orsroim NEWINGTON, ennon, ENGLAND slew, .crnia'nnrpoa rrin LIKE reaper Ann NIGHT DISPLAY Application 'fileii has e1, sas, Serial No. seasea and inlGreat Britain October 6, 19,27.

This invention relates tosigns 'andfmore particularly to a sign of the illumlnated type used for advertising purposes.

One object of the invention is to provide a sign including a sign plate having characters so formed thereon that when light passes through the sign plate the characters will-be prominently displayed; 7

Another object of the invention is-to so form the display plate thatcharacters provided thereon will bepartially outlined by a reflecting medium which attracts attention to the same as well as causing the characters to be-mo're prominently displayed; Another object of the invention is to provide a sign wherein the sign plate may itself constitute the entire sign or formfawfro'nt wall of a housing adapted to be suspended in such a position. that light passing outwardly will illuminate the sign plate constituting the front wall of the housing and cause characters formed thereon to be displayed.

Another object of the invention is to provide a sign of the box type wherein the front wall consists of a sheetor plate of glass treated inan improved manner to disclose characters when illuminated and'further to provide the box with an upper wall of colored I glass so that light passing downwardly through the upper wall to a reflector in the rear portion ofthe box may be projected forwardlyby [the reflector and the front wall V I p plate 1 and not only cause this sign plate or sign plate tinted when illuminated.

Tlheinvention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing wherein' Figure 1 is a perspective view showing a sign plate of the improved construction adapted to constitute the entire sign;

Fig.2 is a perspective View of a sign formed in accordance with this invention wherein a sign plate such as shown in Fig. 1 constitutes the front wall of a housing having a tinted transparent upper wall and a mirror at its back; i

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary view of the sign plate illustrating the ,manner of forming characters thereon;

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3 illustrating. amodified manner of forming the char- 5e 'acters, and

Fig. 5 is a sectional View taken through the sign plate on the line 5+5 of Fig. 4.

The sign plate,- ind'cated in general by the numeral 1, consists of a sheet of transparentor translucent glass and may constitute the 5 entire sigmas shown in Figure 1, wherein it is suspended by a cord 2 passed through openings 3 formed in the plate or it may constitute the frontwall of a housing, as shown in Figure 2. This housing which is indicated in general by the numeral 4-, is-formed of metal in the specific embodiment illus-.' trated but it may be formed of any material. desired. The front and top of the housing are open, ant in order to close the open front of the housing the sign plate or wall 1 isset in place back of the strips 5and 6 which extend longitudinally ofthehousing between the end walls 7 while the open top of'the' housing is closed bya sheetor plate 8 formed of tinted glass. This upperwall or plate 8 suitably supported beneath the inwardly extending flanges 9 at the upper ends of the" end walls 7 and retained in place by a strip 10 which extends betweenthe end walls at the rear of the housing and is suitably secured thereto. Against the rear wall of the housing is disposed'a mirror 11 constituting'a r flector and this reflector is disposedat such an angle that light passing downwardly V 1 through the tint'ed upper wall 8 will be pro jected forwardly through the front'wall' or to be illuminated but also tinted.

The'sign plate is treated in a special manner inorder'to display desired characters when illuminated; and by referring to Fig ures 3, 4E and 5 it will be seen that this sign plate consists of a sheet of glass which may be either transparent or translucent. The outer surface 12 is roughened by any desired method," such as molding or sand-blasting, except portions 13 having the outline of charact ers to be displayedwhen the sign is illuminated. Since the outer face of the sign plate is roughened, light penetrating through the plate will be diffused except therays passing through the clear portions defining the characters. This causes the portions of the sign plate defining the characters tostand out the rear face of the glass plate is silvered,

as shown at 1% in Figure 5. The silvered portion is immediately back of each character and conforms to the contour thereof but is overhead support.

of such dimensions that either a silvered border is provided around an outline 15 of clear glass or a silvered character is outlined by a border 16 of clear glass. This is clearly brought out in Figures 2, 3 and 4c,

When the improved sign is in use, the sign plate or housing is to be suspended from an When the sign plate constitutesthe entire sign, it may be suspended in any position wherein light may shine through'the plate from its rear butif the form shown in Figure 2 wherein the sign plate constitutes a front wallfor a housing is used the sign is suspended in such position that light from an overhead source will pass downwardly through the transparent upper wall 8. This light is projected forwardly through the sign plateby the mirror 11 and causes the front wall or sign plate to be illuminated and also tinted a color corresponding to the color of the upper wall or top 8. The light as it passes th ough the sign plate is diffused by the roughened outer surface of the sign plate about the clear portions which define the characters and, therefore, these characters will stand out very clearly. Since the rear face of the sign plate is silvered back of the characters, surfaces are formed corresponding to but of less dimensions than the jcharacters and the silvered surfaces shine when the sign plate is viewed from its front. It will thus'be seen that characters will be displayed whichare either outlined by silvered bordersor consist of silvered portions outlined by borders of clear glass and a very attractive'sign will be produced.

,Having thus described the invention, I claim A. sign comprising a sheet of light transmitting material having its front face roughened to scatter light rays passing through the sheet, portions of the front face beingleft smooth to define characters to be vdisplayed when the sign is illuminated by lightpassingthrough the same, the rear face of said sheet having a reflecting medium applied thereto in back of the characters.

2. Asign comprising a sheet of light trans- Knitting material having portions clearer than surrounding portions ofthe sheet and defining characters to be displayed when the sheet is illuminated by light passing through the same, and a reflecting medium applied to the rear face of the sheet in back of the characters, the said reflecting medium conforming to the contour of the characters but not completely covering-the same.

3. A sign comprisinga housing open at itsfront and top, a display sheet of light transmitting material closing the front of said housing, a reflector at the rear of said housing for deflecting light rays forwardly through said display sheet, said display sheet being formed with portions clearer than the remainder of the sheet and defining characters to be displayed when the sheet is illuminated, and a reflecting medium applied to the rear surface of said display sheet in back of the characters conforming substantially to the contour of the characters but not completely covering the same. n

4. A sign comprising'a housing open at its front and top,,a display sheet of light transmitting material closing the front of said.housing,a reflector at the rear of said housing for deflectinglight rays forwardly through said display sheet, said display sheet being formed with portions clearer than the remainder of the sheet and defining characters to be displayed when the sheet is illuminated,- a closure for the top of said body formed of colored light transmitting material, and a reflecting medium applied to the rear surface of said display sheet in back of the characters. conforming substantially to the contour of the characters but not completely coverlng the same.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto signed my name.

GEORGE LINDSEY. 

